Swami Chinmayananda conducted his first Jnana Yajna (a series of spiritual discourses) in December 1951, at a small temple in Pune, Maharashtra. Jnana Yajna, a term he coined from Lord Krishna's teachings in the Shrimad Bhagavad-gita, refers to the student who through scriptural studies performs the ritual of worship (yajna) at the altar of wisdom (jnana).
His teachings were based on the authority of the Vedas and his own direct experience. They were highly appreciated, and the number of devotees eager to learn from Swami Chinmayananda’s powerful, dynamic, yet logical, and witty discourses increased rapidly. An inspired band of devotees thus formed 'Chinmaya Mission' on August 8, 1953.
Understanding the needs of the people came naturally to Swami Chinmayananda. For each individual – young or old - the knowledge solutions he had were the same, but he packaged them differently for each segment. These then grew to becoming the core anchors for growth.
Having seen widespread spiritual and social degradation in India, Swami Chinmayananda felt the urge to share the knowledge that had brought fulfillment in his own life through Swami Tapovanam's tutelage and grace.
Having undergone the transformation from a rebel to a renunciate, which was in fact a transformation from an ignoramus to a knower, Swami Chinmayananda saw that the drivers of this knowledge lay buried in a language that was almost dead (Sanskrit) and its idiom was losing context as the essential Indian was now more anglicised in demeanour and disposition. Bringing him back to the teachings of the Upanishads could only be by rephrasing the lessons in English - the language of intellectual India. That was how Swami Chinmayananda took to teaching Vedanta in English, a big surprise in that era.
Gurudev, as Swami Chinmayananda came to be known, had a keen sense of perception and observation. He knew people by being among them, seeing them, talking to them. He also perceived the degeneration in values and family systems, and knew that the way to restoration and sustenance was communicating to the youth via culture, on the platform of modernity, using contemporary idiom and the English language. Likewise, he understood that the way forward lay in strengthening value-based education, and energising schools. That is what Swami Chinmayananda approached single-pointedly, at a social level. Today, the Chinmaya Vision Programme followed in more than 80 Chinmaya Education institutions, as well as other educational institutions throughout the country, is seen as a remarkable system for holistic education.
At another level, he envisioned that the reason for the dissonance among the people – around the world, was the absence of a manual for living. Everywhere he was beginning to see an artless rush for living. He decided that the Bhagavad-gita which was the crème de la crème of the Vedas and Upanishads was what begged to be sown back into society everywhere.